


Watch Me As I Fall to Pieces

by Fanficprincess05



Series: We Are Family [5]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Guardians of the Galaxy - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Death, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Loss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-11-01 06:45:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10916484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fanficprincess05/pseuds/Fanficprincess05
Summary: The four times Peter helped saved Rocket, and the one time Rocket returned the favor.





	Watch Me As I Fall to Pieces

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all!  
> A little bit of a change of pace here!  
> I still have one more Peter-helping-Rocket fics, but figured I should switch it around and do the Rocket-helping-Peter one :)
> 
> This one is a little emotional, set after the events of GOTG2, so if you haven't seen the movie, maybe don't read this (although I'm sure you're only reading this cause you've seen GOTG2)
> 
> I'll try to have the other two up either today or tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

On the first day after the fight with Ego, Peter retreated into his room and closed the door, not to be seen for the rest of the night.

On the second day he came out, parking himself in the pilot’s chair but rescinding his controls to Gamora, simply staring out into space as the ship continued on its way and not saying a word.

On the third day, Drax decided to up and do something about Peter’s silence, which for some reason involved aggression and force. Grabbing him, pinning him to a wall and yelling for Peter to get his act together clearly did not work, and actually had to be interrupted by Rocket shooting him with his gun. Despite the acts of violence occurring after this confrontation, Peter resumed his role of sitting in silence, ignoring Gamora’s pleas for Drax to stop holding Rocket by his tail.

On the fourth day Gamora swallowed her pride, sidling up to Peter and sweet talking him with the promise that she would do anything he want, get anything he may need, if he would only snap out of his funk. Hoping to awaken him through his libido, she put on her most charming smile (for an assassin) and willed him to come alive again. But even the forces of sexuality could not snap Peter out of his spell – still he remained poised towards the giant window of the Milano, staring into the infinity that lay beyond.

On the fifth day, little Groot installed himself in Peter’s lap, refusing to leave his new spot. Leaning back into Peter’s stomach he yawned; the two of them watching the wide world before them together. Though not giving any sort of facial or verbal reaction, the group was shocked as Peter’s hand moved ever so gently to hold the tiny plant in place, securing him from falling when the road got bumpy. _This was a start_ , they told themselves. _Peter was going to come back to them now_.

By the end of the week he still had not said one word, nor had he eaten or taken care of himself. Still his body remained perched in that chair, the world around him ever turning but his world at a frozen stop. Life on the ship had become cold, and Drax and Gamora had nothing left in their arsenal but to grab the raccoon and shove him in the direction of their leader.

“Whaddya want me to do?” Rocket said in confusion, not being the best at social interaction and human emotion.

They answered him with a shrug and continued about their day. _Figure it out,_ they silently told him and he growled in frustration. How was _he_ supposed to deal with any of this? He was a genetically manufactured creature, for crying out loud!

Sighing, he went up to the empty pilot chair and sat on it, turning to the left in the hopes that Peter would have acknowledged his presence, frowning when he saw his friend staring blankly out into nothing.

“Hey, Peter, I’ll control the ship for now, no problem,” he said, trying to catch a reaction from his friend, but still nothing. Getting up, he went over to Peter and began to wave his arms around in front of his face, yelling and wishing Peter could just come back to them and quit moping around.

“Look, I know yer feelin’ sorry for yourself and all, but we all lost someone out there,” he snapped, growing tired of the silence. Mentally kicking himself for being so insensitive, he stood there for a few minutes contemplating his next move. Suddenly, his ears perked up as an idea formed in his mind.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, but no response could be heard. Running to Peter’s room, he paused momentarily to consider the filthiness of it all before sifting through the piles of junk to find what he needed. Finally, he found it on the bedside table – Peter’s Zune, given to him by Yondu through Kraglin after Yondu’s tragic death. Grabbing the set of headphones he ran back to the front of the ship, hoping that Peter was suddenly up and living again, sighing sadly when he found Peter in the same position as usual.

He walked slowly up to Peter and without thinking about it climbed onto his lap and stared his friend in the face. Seeing the confusion in his friend’s eyes made his heart skip – finally, there was some life in those eyes, and not the emptiness he had witness the past few days. Placing one earbud in his ear and the other in Peter’s, he fumbled with the keys of the Zune until he found the right song, pushing play and sitting down in Peter’s lap. It was “Father and Son” by Cat Stevens, one of the songs Rocket knew Peter really liked.

_How can I try to explain? When I do he turns away again It's always been the same, same old story From the moment I could talk I was ordered to listen Now there's a way And I know that I have to go away I know I have to go_

Closing his eyes and humming to the melody, he suddenly jumped at the wetness falling into his fur from above. Turning his head upwards, he was shocked to find tears rolling down Peter’s cheeks, his face trying to retain its hardened façade but failing. Rocket sighed, leaning his head back and staring at Peter, waiting for the dam to break even further. Peter moved his arm to his face, wiping his eyes and nose and giving a shaky sigh.

“I thought my father was going to be this big hero, that we would take on the world together, that we would finally start to live our lives together,” Peter said bitterly, to which Rocket simply hummed in recognition.

“Turns out, my father was an asshole,” Peter chuckled, but there was no happiness in his laugh. Rocket hummed in agreement, looking once more into space and its vastness.

“Wasn’t really your father in the end though, was he?” Rocket asked rhetorically, to which Peter looked down at him, eyes widened at the honesty of the statement. Going silent for a few minutes, Rocket could almost hear the wheels in his head turning, trying to consider all the events of the past few weeks.

“No, I guess not,” he whispered, his voice cracking at the end. Rocket could feel something stirring in his chest, but he wasn’t able to place what it was.

“That job belonged to Yondu. Who woulda thought?” Rocket stated once more, eliciting a grunt of emotion from the man above him. He jumped slightly at the sudden hand that came and wrapped around him, as if holding onto him for comfort. Though normally Rocket would have bit into said appendage by now, he let Peter’s hand remain in its place, knowing somehow that this was helping the situation and yet vowing never to let it happen again.

“It doesn’t matter anymore because he’s…gone,” Peter struggled to get the last word out, his body suddenly shaking under Rocket’s body. Rocket could feel his chest start to tighten, and tears threaten to leave his own eyes. Confusion abounded as he struggled to figure out what this feeling was.

“I miss him, too,” Rocket whispered, causing Peter to go silent and look down at him.

“You do?” Peter said quietly, to which Rocket nodded.

“Yea. At least, I imagine that’s what this tightening in my chest is telling me,” he chuckled sadly, holding a hand to his heart. Peter chuckled for the first time in a week, causing Rocket to look up in shock, his ears perking up to the sound.

“Who knew you could have emotions?” Peter joked, causing Rocket to smile.

“There’s the Quill I know! Welcome back,” he said softly, but Peter simply sniffed, his face still wet with tears.

“I’m sorry for leaving you guys, it’s just been…hard,” Peter admitted, his face falling, a frown appearing. Rocket sighed.

“You’re not alone,” Rocket said softly, causing Peter to look down once more in confusion.

“What do you mean?” He asked. Rocket could feel his fists tightening on the arm rests, trying to hold back his emotions from being seen.

“I feel like I lost a father too,” he said, feeling Peter’s arm wrap tighter around him.

“Oh,” was all he could reply, and the two of them sat there once more in silence. Seeing a new planet come into focus, their eyes widened at the beauty of it. Rocket grinned at the sight, his eyes shining with emotion.

“No better way to remember his memory than to keep doing what we’re doing,” Rocket quipped, and Peter hummed in question.

“And what would that be?” He asked, and Rocket got up, grabbing the earbuds and the Zune and putting them aside. Looking Peter in the eyes he smiled, and could see a smile creep up on his friend’s lips as well.

“Keeping the galaxy in order,” he said, pointing out the window into the great beyond. Peter followed his finger and stared out towards the new planet they were heading for, a grin forming on his face.

“Whaddya say, Quill?” Rocket said, and for the first time in a week Peter looked like he had some fight in him.

“Let’s do it,” he said, high-fiving the raccoon and getting into position in the pilot’s seat. The raccoon joined him in the other chair, giving him a thumbs up.

“Let’s go be the Guardians of the Galaxy,” he whispered to himself, smiling as he felt his old resolve coming back. As they headed to the new planet, Peter was plagued with only one thought.

_This is all for you, Yondu. Thank you for being the only father I’ll ever need._


End file.
